[qwerty49]

Agree with qwerty, but I suspect the person complaining about PowerPoint is complaining about how it is used. Just like prose can be well-written (rare, but great when you see it) or a literary disaster, PowerPoint is a communication tool, not an end in itself.  Way too often, corporate presentations are a disorganized disaster, and when not used properly, PowerPoint can contribute to that. But if you have ever seen an engaging speaker ((rare, but great when you do see it), you realize that a well-put together talk can actually be great.

BC

I agree that PowerPoint is a tool but only a tool. It can be used effectively and cogently or otherwise. Viewgraphs have been around for many, many years. Anything PowerPoint can do has been done first on viewgraphs. However PowerPoint makes it much easier to create an impactful presentation with much less effort. It is possible to use PowerPoint as an educational tool rather than a persuasive instrument, although in my experience that is seldom the case.

The inherent problem with PowerPoint is that allows the quick and easy creation of very professional and persuasive appearing presentations oriented toward influencing opinions and eliciting actions/decisions based on pure nonsense.

BUT Powerpoint is an important and effective communication tool.  Those who use it well know how to condense a complicated argument into very succinct discussion points -- and presenting the presentation live (or these days, online) is every bit as important a communications skill.  

Save the joys of reading great prose for leisure or detailed expression for reference textbooks.  But face reality -- Horses for Courses -- when you are tasked with communicating for business, influencing opinions, or, especially, eliciting actions or decisions, it's a multimedia world, whether we like it or not. And learning how to use these tools, whether they be Powerpoint or web platforms, is a very important skill.  And yes, our universe firmly includes sound bites, Tik Tok clips, and other systems that tap into everyone's inner ADHD.

And I say this as an alumnus of both Stanford's Creative Writing Program and its Business School.

I agree that there are many mountains of creative writing embedded in many PowerPoint presentations. I need to modify your initial points somewhat to match what IMO is reality.

Those who use it well know how to condense a complicated argument that is actually very weak and poorly supported into very succinct discussion points that effectively hide the questionable assumptions or bald-face lies behind bullet points that function as indisputable postulates  -- and presenting the presentation live (or these days, online) is every bit as important a communications skill.

Yes, you can put lipstick on a pig quite effectively, and the result when properly presented doesn't appear to be a pig.

But face reality -- Horses for Courses -- when you are tasked with communicating for business, influencing opinions, or, especially, eliciting actions or decisions, it's a multimedia world, whether we like it or not. And learning how to use these tools, whether they be Powerpoint or web platforms, is a very important skill.  And yes, our universe firmly includes sound bites, Tik Tok clips, and other systems that tap into everyone's inner ADHD.

Whenever one is tasked with making a presentation to achieve a particular decision/action/opinion it is wise to consider your audience whenever possible. I agree that in today's business operations it is probable that 80 to 90 percent of the people in the room have little interest in or knowledge of the subject in question. They are present to ensure that nobody has any grounds to question the resulting decision/action whatever it may be. If the decision turns out to be wrong, the blame is already well distributed. A well delivered PowerPoint presentation can convince this part of the audience that the earth is flat.

The few people that are in the room that actually are informed and care will view the presentation critically. This can be a big problem. It is best to get as many of those people "on your side" before you make the "big presentation" as possible. You can do this using PowerPoint presentations to a smaller, more "elect" group, but you better be prepared for questions and have some "back up" slides ready when they hit the weak points. Hopefully the decision will already be made before you make the "big presentation". If you can't "wire" the result in advance, you may still succeed. It is now however not a given and you may face some harsh questioning. Some of that questioning may be quite off-base, but as the OP points out, in today's sound-byte world that may not matter. Whatever you do don't even consider admitting you are wrong about anything :-).

All PowerPoint presentations aren't "lies" but virtually are all at best incomplete, usually intentionally. Occasionally you will see a PowerPoint that presents alternative solutions for the purpose of debunking them, but in my experience this is rare. You also risk confusing the 90% so most people don't do it. I have given some PowerPoint presentations when I knew the decision was "wired", some for, some against my desired outcome. I have also given many others where I didn't know what if anything would result. Sometimes the results were surprisingly favorable. It isn't "magic" but it can "work", both for good and for ill.

LOL Goose, you must have really been burned by some bad PowerPoint presentations to be so, um, "ignited" about them.  Yes, they're not all lies, and no, they're not all consciously or nefariously incomplete.  You and 82 have, though, touched upon some key things I learned in 40 years of constructing and delivering C-Level presentations, to foreign and domestic, private sector and public sector clients:

1.  Damn right you need to "wire" the presentation.  You always need an insider who will chime in at the appropriate time.  I guess this could be considered nefarious, but to me it's just common sense and part of the job.

2.  Never, ever use more than 10 slides.  NEVER.  If you can't make the key points in 10 slides you have scoped the project wrong.  But scoping the project can be a different skill set than delivering it.  And many months of hard work can be behind those 10 slides.

3.  One hour to present those 10 slides.  On average, you talk for 1 minute and give the audience 5.  That means everything gets buttoned down in one hour, because the last slide is always the summary of "what should happen next." This in itself presumes there is consensus in the room.  And that consensus is reached before the presentation is given, by all the key underlings and bosses (ie the ones who get to claim credit).  See #1 above.  

4.  To 82's point, yes, nothing smaller than 12pt font, ever.  I would add, no slides that are just bullet point text, and conversely, no more than 3-4 boxes and arrows on any page.  

5.  He/she who delivers a presentation by reading every damn word on the screen verbatim never works on my team again.  Paraphrasing what they're looking at has two advantages:  you keep people awake, and you get to make the same point in at least two different ways at the same time.

6.  Have a Trojan Horse early on -- a point that obviously requires some detailed, data and fact-based embellishment.  That way when the Harsh Questioner, who's been waiting for this moment, invariably pipes up, I'll say, "I'm glad you brought that up.  Those are exactly the kind of questions we asked ourselves.  In this case, we had to do a,b,c, and when we tested it we found d,e,f, blah blah blah."  The Trojan Horse takes about 8-10 mins typically and takes time away from the other slides, but it shows by example that you've done your homework, gives you instant credibility and paves the way ahead.  This is a combination of #1 and #2, especially if the Insider sees a chance to jump in.

Those are some of the things that worked for me.  As is often said, YMMV.

I get you were being glib, but I can't agree that PowerPoint simply enables nonsense.  C'mon, it's just a tool.  Have you ever gone through a market entry project, where hundreds of millions of dollars and staff hours are potentially going to be committed, including families who have to move to a new location somewhere in the world?  Or a post-merger integration -- where all of a sudden you have two of everybody and need to figure out how to move forward?  Not a lot of room for nonsense on those.

[qwerty49]

Agree with qwerty, but I suspect the person complaining about PowerPoint is complaining about how it is used. Just like prose can be well-written (rare, but great when you see it) or a literary disaster, PowerPoint is a communication tool, not an end in itself.  Way too often, corporate presentations are a disorganized disaster, and when not used properly, PowerPoint can contribute to that. But if you have ever seen an engaging speaker ((rare, but great when you do see it), you realize that a well-put together talk can actually be great.

BC

I agree that PowerPoint is a tool but only a tool. It can be used effectively and cogently or otherwise. Viewgraphs have been around for many, many years. Anything PowerPoint can do has been done first on viewgraphs. However PowerPoint makes it much easier to create an impactful presentation with much less effort. It is possible to use PowerPoint as an educational tool rather than a persuasive instrument, although in my experience that is seldom the case.

The inherent problem with PowerPoint is that allows the quick and easy creation of very professional and persuasive appearing presentations oriented toward influencing opinions and eliciting actions/decisions based on pure nonsense.

BUT Powerpoint is an important and effective communication tool.  Those who use it well know how to condense a complicated argument into very succinct discussion points -- and presenting the presentation live (or these days, online) is every bit as important a communications skill.  

Save the joys of reading great prose for leisure or detailed expression for reference textbooks.  But face reality -- Horses for Courses -- when you are tasked with communicating for business, influencing opinions, or, especially, eliciting actions or decisions, it's a multimedia world, whether we like it or not. And learning how to use these tools, whether they be Powerpoint or web platforms, is a very important skill.  And yes, our universe firmly includes sound bites, Tik Tok clips, and other systems that tap into everyone's inner ADHD.

And I say this as an alumnus of both Stanford's Creative Writing Program and its Business School.

I agree that there are many mountains of creative writing embedded in many PowerPoint presentations. I need to modify your initial points somewhat to match what IMO is reality.

Those who use it well know how to condense a complicated argument that is actually very weak and poorly supported into very succinct discussion points that effectively hide the questionable assumptions or bald-face lies behind bullet points that function as indisputable postulates  -- and presenting the presentation live (or these days, online) is every bit as important a communications skill.

Yes, you can put lipstick on a pig quite effectively, and the result when properly presented doesn't appear to be a pig.

But face reality -- Horses for Courses -- when you are tasked with communicating for business, influencing opinions, or, especially, eliciting actions or decisions, it's a multimedia world, whether we like it or not. And learning how to use these tools, whether they be Powerpoint or web platforms, is a very important skill.  And yes, our universe firmly includes sound bites, Tik Tok clips, and other systems that tap into everyone's inner ADHD.

Whenever one is tasked with making a presentation to achieve a particular decision/action/opinion it is wise to consider your audience whenever possible. I agree that in today's business operations it is probable that 80 to 90 percent of the people in the room have little interest in or knowledge of the subject in question. They are present to ensure that nobody has any grounds to question the resulting decision/action whatever it may be. If the decision turns out to be wrong, the blame is already well distributed. A well delivered PowerPoint presentation can convince this part of the audience that the earth is flat.

The few people that are in the room that actually are informed and care will view the presentation critically. This can be a big problem. It is best to get as many of those people "on your side" before you make the "big presentation" as possible. You can do this using PowerPoint presentations to a smaller, more "elect" group, but you better be prepared for questions and have some "back up" slides ready when they hit the weak points. Hopefully the decision will already be made before you make the "big presentation". If you can't "wire" the result in advance, you may still succeed. It is now however not a given and you may face some harsh questioning. Some of that questioning may be quite off-base, but as the OP points out, in today's sound-byte world that may not matter. Whatever you do don't even consider admitting you are wrong about anything :-).

All PowerPoint presentations aren't "lies" but virtually are all at best incomplete, usually intentionally. Occasionally you will see a PowerPoint that presents alternative solutions for the purpose of debunking them, but in my experience this is rare. You also risk confusing the 90% so most people don't do it. I have given some PowerPoint presentations when I knew the decision was "wired", some for, some against my desired outcome. I have also given many others where I didn't know what if anything would result. Sometimes the results were surprisingly favorable. It isn't "magic" but it can "work", both for good and for ill.

LOL Goose, you must have really been burned by some bad PowerPoint presentations to be so, um, "ignited" about them.  Yes, they're not all lies, and no, they're not all consciously or nefariously incomplete.  You and 82 have, though, touched upon some key things I learned in 40 years of constructing and delivering C-Level presentations, to foreign and domestic, private sector and public sector clients:

1.  Damn right you need to "wire" the presentation.  You always need an insider who will chime in at the appropriate time.  I guess this could be considered nefarious, but to me it's just common sense and part of the job.

2.  Never, ever use more than 10 slides.  NEVER.  If you can't make the key points in 10 slides you have scoped the project wrong.  But scoping the project can be a different skill set than delivering it.  And many months of hard work can be behind those 10 slides.

3.  One hour to present those 10 slides.  On average, you talk for 1 minute and give the audience 5.  That means everything gets buttoned down in one hour, because the last slide is always the summary of "what should happen next." This in itself presumes there is consensus in the room.  And that consensus is reached before the presentation is given, by all the key underlings and bosses (ie the ones who get to claim credit).  See #1 above.  

4.  To 82's point, yes, nothing smaller than 12pt font, ever.  I would add, no slides that are just bullet point text, and conversely, no more than 3-4 boxes and arrows on any page.  

5.  He/she who delivers a presentation by reading every damn word on the screen verbatim never works on my team again.  Paraphrasing what they're looking at has two advantages:  you keep people awake, and you get to make the same point in at least two different ways at the same time.

6.  Have a Trojan Horse early on -- a point that obviously requires some detailed, data and fact-based embellishment.  That way when the Harsh Questioner, who's been waiting for this moment, invariably pipes up, I'll say, "I'm glad you brought that up.  Those are exactly the kind of questions we asked ourselves.  In this case, we had to do a,b,c, and when we tested it we found d,e,f, blah blah blah."  The Trojan Horse takes about 8-10 mins typically and takes time away from the other slides, but it shows by example that you've done your homework, gives you instant credibility and paves the way ahead.  This is a combination of #1 and #2, especially if the Insider sees a chance to jump in.

Those are some of the things that worked for me.  As is often said, YMMV.

I get you were being glib, but I can't agree that PowerPoint simply enables nonsense.  C'mon, it's just a tool.  Have you ever gone through a market entry project, where hundreds of millions of dollars and staff hours are potentially going to be committed, including families who have to move to a new location somewhere in the world?  Or a post-merger integration -- where all of a sudden you have two of everybody and need to figure out how to move forward?  Not a lot of room for nonsense on those.